FableVision Says Goodbye to Soup2Nuts Animation Studio

Cities have always been hubs — that’s not news to anyone — and Boston has been on the map as a hub for creative, smart media for years. So when we heard that our friends at Soup2Nuts Animation Studio had closed their doors, we felt a significant loss to our community. Soup was considered a real Boston animation fixture, and produced amazing work, including “Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist,”“WordGirl” for PBS Kids, and “Astroblast” for Sprout/NBC Kids. Soup2Nuts was one of the local studios keeping animators local.

"Soup2Nuts will be missed as one of the vibrant shops in the Boston area making great media for kids," FableVision founder Peter H. Reynolds said. Seventeen years ago, FableVision sprung out of the same 'mothership,' Tom Snyder Productions, founded by teacher-turned-media maestro Tom Snyder.

"While we are sad to see Soup close its doors, we feel solace in knowing that FableVision is a creative harbor that has — and will continue to — welcome Soup talent aboard," Reynolds said.

Reynolds saw the very first inkling of Soup2Nuts when he was working with Snyder at Tom Snyder Productions, long before it was sold to Torstar and then to Scholastic. While creating "Fizz & Martina" with Snyder, which taught kids how to problem solve math in context of a story, the pair decided to push the concept which started as narrated slideshows.

"If an effort to bring the slides to life, Tom and I looped three frames of each, and voila: 'SquiggleVision' was born," Reynolds explained. It soon caught the eye of Tim Brain at HBO who championed 'Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist' which really threw the accelerator switch. "What we had casually called 'The Retro Ranch' became Soup2Nuts – and the rest is history," he said.

Some FableVisionaries wanted to contribute their thoughts on Soup2Nuts, which are below. Their closing is a loss, and we feel that deeply. Here at FableVision, we’ll continue to foster that creative community, keeping great people doing great things as busy as we can. We commend Soup2Nuts on the remarkable body of work they produced — you did good.

Tone Thyne, Vice President of Creative"Soup2Nuts blazed a trail through the cement of the Boston Animation Community and their footprints immortalize a place in the history of home-grown quality animation. We remain inspired by their years of groundbreaking work."

Bob Flynn, Director of Art and Animation"When I arrived in this city just over a decade ago, Soup2Nuts was one of the first places I set foot in. I didn’t end up working there, but I’ve always thought of Soup as the Boston animation fixture. It was an especially great training ground—so many animation careers started there, including many a talented artist and producer that eventually found a home at FableVision. I really believe strongly in keeping Boston a stronghold for animators who love it here as much as I do. So let’s make sure we all work hard to support everyone through this challenging time."

Danielle Gillis, Producer"Soup2Nuts has been a leader in the Boston creative community for 20 years," says Danielle Gillis, producer at FableVision Studios. "They brought together artists, writers, producers and comedians to spark smart, funny, and heartfelt content recognized around the world.

One of the things that made Soup2Nuts unique is that every member of the team had a great sense for story and an inherently funny sense of humor. Throughout the course of production everyone elevated an episode in their own way. We would start with scripts that made you laugh out loud, in the VO session the incredible cast of comedians would riff off the script, the audio editor would spend days trying to fit in as many jokes as possible and master the comic timing. Then the director brought in sight gags, clever twists, and their own vision, to which the storyboard artists would add another level of creativity, and then the animators would breathe these beloved characters to life. Smart and thoughtful sound design and imaginative post production added that final polish. As a producer, I would watch every episode many times over, and I always knew that we had created a gem when I was still laughing at the 20th screening."